An Explosive Ace
by joey the ripper
Summary: It's war between big time villains, a kidnapped girl is caught in the middle and Negaduck has gained an explosive protégé. Warning for Crime and violence
1. Snap!

_**Disclaimer:**_ If I owned Darkwing Duck we'd have a whole brand new series out by now, we'd have a spin off called "Negaduck" and we'd have the worst ratings in history, as it stands, no, I don't own Darkwing Duck and Disney isn't making either series any time soon... I also don't own the Doctor Who character "Ace" with her home-made explosives "Nitro-Nine" (which comes from the era of the Seventh Doctor) my Ace is not the same girl, the similarities are very few and the Doctor _isn't_ making an appearance in this story.

**Summary:** It's war between big time villains, a kidnapped girl is caught in the middle and Negaduck has gained an explosive protégé.

* * *

Chapter 1

**Snap**

Negaduck walked through the Old Haunt, the night had been quiet so far and he was trying to decide on either committing a crime or getting into a fight for kicks, he didn't need to think about it for long because as he drew closer to the entrance to alleyway he heard a couple of thuggish voices drifting from the street.

'Gullving's been lookin' for you everywhere, ya' little brat!' One snapped.

'Yeah, he gave us a right grillin' when 'e found out _you'd_ run off!' Another agreed.

Negaduck grew tense, if these thugs _were_ Gullving's then that meant Gullving was in the city somewhere, and the idea of having such a big name in crime in _his_ city without being clued in on it first made his blood boil, Gullving might have been a big time criminal (and Negaduck was willing to grant him _that_ rare honour) but as far as _this_ city went Negaduck was the one in charge and Gullving needed to know that.

The voice of a very determined little girl growled back at the thugs. 'Gullving can go jump in a lake, and _you_ lot can go to hell!' He had to smirk at that because it was followed by a grunt of pain from one of the thugs and he stepped out of the alley just in time to see a little duckling deliver a hefty blow to the back of a goon's neck causing him to fall unconsciously to the pavement.

'Oh so you want to be a tough girl, that's fine wit' us!'

Negaduck rose his eyebrow as the girl grew all the more determined and ready to take on the challenge, but he wasn't about to just _let_ this opportunity for some fun pass him by. 'Oi!' He barked, drawing the four thugs' attention to him.

'What cha want?'

'If you're after a challenge why not try your luck against someone bigger?'

'Stay out of this, _Dandelion!'_

He seethed in anger at the insult of his colour choice.

'Yeah, this ain't your business!'

'I'm Negaduck! _Everything_ in this city is my business!' He barked bringing out a pistol from inside his cape and firing at one of the thugs.

The girl bunched up against the wall and watched as he dodged expertly about, their bullets missed him as he fired off his own, they were brought down and he smirked at his easy win; He straightened confidently and looked to the kid that they had been after, she was gazing at the scene with interest, studying it carefully. 'What was _their_ beef with you?' He asked her.

She looked up at him with eyes so brown they were almost black, in a two sizes too big black bombers jacket over the top of mismatched clothes, probably only 7 years old, she seemed to be welling up with gratitude.

_'Just_ so we're clear.' He said stooping a little to talk to her better. 'I didn't _save_ you, I took out some hired muscle of my competition and you're just _here_ for it.'

'I didn't _need_ saving!' She snapped moodily. 'I had it _covered!'_

'Yeah sure, kid.' Negaduck said dismissively, she could believe what she wanted to, he didn't care, he turned to the goon who was slowly regaining consciousness on the pavement and walked over to him, he grabbed the goon by the back of the collar and yanked him up to growl at him. 'Alright listen! I've got a message for your boss and _you're_ going to deliver it for me!' Negaduck didn't wait for the goon to respond before he continued on. 'You're going to tell Gullving that Lord Negaduck is giving him fair warning, this is _my_ city and Gullving had _better_ leave it quick smart or he's going to be meeting his maker _real_ soon, you got that?'

The goon nodded and Negaduck let him go, sirens were wailing in the background and were getting closer; Negaduck turned to the girl. 'You'd better have somewhere safe to hide, kid.'

She gave a quick nod and headed for the alleyway. 'I do.'

He cast a look around and followed after her, she at least owed him a place to lie low for a few hours.

She looked to him as he caught up to her.

'I'm going to lie low with you for a bit, your place had _better_ be safe.'

She gave a shrug. 'Depends on if you feel safe around explosives.' She said calmly.

He smiled at that and pulled out a grenade, holding it for her to see he replied cheerfully. 'Never feel safe _without_ them.'

She reached into a pocket of her bombers jacket and pulled out a silver canister that looked very much like a deodorant can, she matched his smile with her own and said. 'Snap!'

He chuckled as she put hers away and he did the same, she was 7 years old and already comfy with explosives? She had a lot of promise.

She knelt down suddenly and pulled the cover off the manhole. 'Come on then.' She said and dropped down into the sewer.

Negaduck rose his eyebrow, it was a good way to lose anyone who was following you, given the fact that the thugs on the street had been after her she probably did this route a little too often, but all the same he dropped down as well, what kind of hideout did she have anyway?


	2. Deserted Mission

_A/n: Hey! This isn't the way it was supposed to go! Grr, Negaduck, why don't you do what I tell you to? Oh, right, stupid question wasn't it... Never mind, I can work with it I guess._

Chapter 2

**Deserted Mission**

Negaduck woke up feeling more rested than he had in a long time, he took a moment to acknowledge the feeling before he noticed that the kid was snuggled up to him looking rather content, sure it was her bed and her hideout but this was _sappy_; he made to move away but she reacted quickly, clinging to him like he was a life-line, he scowled and gave up the idea of moving for the moment.

Negaduck thought about what he knew of Gullving and how the crime boss "acquired" his agents; Gullving was a big time crook based in Salt Lake City, he had a hand in everything from arms smuggling to stolen antiquities, he was also into kidnapping kids and murdering their parents.

Negaduck looked to the girl beside him, one of the kidnapped kids in Gullving's collection? She didn't really seem to match the "specially trained mini-thug" attributes that Gullving was well-known for, and _how_ had she managed to escape Gullving and cross eight states to wind up here in Saint Canard?

'You awake, kid?' He asked intent on getting answers to the puzzle.

'Yeah, and it isn't _kid_, my name's "Ace".' She replied in the exact same growl that he had used.

He smiled at the affect he was having on her and asked 'What was Gullving training you to _do_ exactly?'

She sat up looking at him seriously. 'Kill you.'

'Me?' He asked in surprise, he sat up and stared at her. 'He was training _you_ to kill _me_?' She nodded silently and he laughed, there was all of the answers he was looking for right there, Gullving had trained her to be able to kill him and to stand any chance of doing that she would have to be _very_ good, escape would be easy for a girl trained to kill Negaduck, crossing eight states would be a piece of cake too.

'You're not mad?' She asked raising her eyebrow in confusion.

'Not with you.' He said smiling; he reached out and ruffled her messy black hair, she gave a scowl at the action 'But it explains why he wants you back so badly.'

'I'm _not _going to try and kill you!' She said defiantly as she folded her arms.

And of _course_ she would know better than to _try,_ she would _have_ to be smart, quick and able to stand a chance and that type of person would know that trying would be dangerous and not worth the risk.

'Regardless, if we'd _had_ this conversation last night I wouldn't have slept so soundly.' He smirked, giving her a wink and getting up from the bed.

Her little hideout was his style too so he noticed, it was a death trap outside for anyone who tried to come after her, and the inside of the abandoned train-house was simple and rough around the edges... naturally, if she _were_ to stand any chance of killing him she'd have to match him in so many ways she could very well _be_ him, he looked back from the bags of nitrate fertiliser to her, a bit more training was needed but she was proving to be quite promising.

'Tell you what, _Ace_, Gullving isn't going to just let you _go.'_ He considered the matter, keeping her close by would mean that sooner or later when Gullving tried to catch her again he'd be able to deal with the guy.

'He can go to-'

'Yeah but _I_ want to send him there myself!' Negaduck said cutting across the colourful language that was certainly going to keep him at least amused while he used her to draw out the crime boss. 'So we're going to stick together until he gets his well deserved dirt nap, understood?'

'Who put you in charge?' She snapped as she got to a stand on the bed.

'I did.' He said calmly giving her the _look_ he gave so many of his rivals, the look that sent hardened criminals running for their lives, that promised all of his favourite tortures for those stupid enough to argue with him.

'Get stuffed! I'm not _bait_!'

'I _could_ cut you into smaller portions if you'd like.' He offered.

'Try it; I'm carrying enough explosives to send both of our pieces to Nebraska!'

He raised his eyebrow. 'Really?'

She gave a shrug. 'Okay, so maybe only to the edge of the city.' She admitted. 'But it's still not a good way to go.'

He gave a shrug. 'When you start to mess around with explosives you accept that you will most likely end up taking _yourself_ out with them.'

'True...' She agreed dropping back down to a sit on the mattress.

'Listen, Kid...' He paused and with every ounce of his remaining patience corrected himself. '_Ace._' He stepped up to her. 'I'm not happy about this either, but Gullving isn't about to leave you alone and I have a bone to pick with that low-life who isn't man enough to try and kill me himself, and after that, we'll never have to see each other again, agreed?'

'I don't need you to protect me!' She snapped.

'Course not! But you can at least pick up a thing or too from a _real_ criminal.' He was getting really irritated with her attitude and he could feel a growing need to throttle her the longer this kept on, but part of the reason he was intent not to was the fact this was like a mirror into his past and the girl was saying things he had said himself. 'Think of it as work experience, I have quite a few tricks I've learnt over the years and they could come in handy for you.'

She gazed at him with her arms folded, weighing it all up. 'Alright, fine... but I don't need you-'

'Yeah, yeah, you don't need me to protect you; _news_ flash, kid, I'm not a protective guy, you look after yourself because I don't stick my neck out for anyone.'

She gave a nod. 'Fine!'

'Fine!' He said just as forcefully, he turned and gazed at the fertiliser bags again. 'You have a more _sophisticated_ recipe for explosives, right?'

'Hey! It's just the easiest stuff to get a hold of!' She snapped defensively.

He smirked to himself and gave her an eye-roll saying 'Yeah, sure.'

She glared at him and he looked her over. 'What?' She asked looking herself over too.

'You need a _lot_ of work.' He said bluntly, he covered his face as he shook his head, this _was_ going to be tedious but he was having a lot of fun picking on her right now.

She put her hands on her hips. 'I'm only 7! _You_ try to get hold of a decent outfit that fits let alone nitro-glycerine when you're only 7 years old!'

He chuckled as he shook his head, yeah, she had a point that she was going to have a fair few challenges cos she was young, and sure she was also dodging Gullving's thugs as well, but she still really needed to get herself sorted out.

He looked her over again figuring what would work well with her. 'We've _got_ to fix your outfit.'

'I thought we just-'

'I refuse to be seen with you looking like that!' He snapped, maybe a _bit_ too forcefully considering how she tensed and reached for her one and only weapon, to anyone else that could have merely been wary but Negaduck saw it as a flinch, she was only a kid, and a damaged one at that, despite all the strength she seemed to have she was nervous as anything underneath it all. 'Starting with your clothes.' He said taking a step back and striking a pose that an artist would when pondering their next masterpiece, a twinge of a smile came to her face in response to his deliberate comedic action, she needed a lot of work and he was the only one who could do it.

* * *

Ace stared at the clothes he was holding up for her to look at, he'd made the skirt and shirt out of some of the clothes that weren't in any shape for _him_ to wear any more, strangely the tears in the cape and the rips in the jacket had just made the job of cannibalising them that much easier for him; Ace had watched him work and the speed and skill that he had used made her ready to declare him some sort of magician, turning a jacket into a skirt and a cape into a shirt so easily was definitely some kind of magic trick.

'Go ahead.' He said chucking them to her. 'and put them on.'

'Where'd you learn to do that?' She asked.

'Needs must.' He shrugged. 'It's hard to get a decent tailor.'

'Tell me about it.' She groaned with a roll of her eyes.

'Go!' He said pointing to the bathroom.

She hesitated as she considered arguing with his assuming control again but decided to let it slide because she _wanted_ to put them on anyway and headed into the bathroom to change.


End file.
